A Bike ride to Bohemia

05/07/2022

The hire-bikes served us well, but it will be good to get back to our own trusty steeds.
The train journey back to Prague wasn't without incident, but we made it and with a lot less hassle re. Carriage of Bicycles than in the UK. They operate a 'bike ticket on any train for 24 hrs' for £4 ... and the train had a whole coach for the bikes!
Back in Prague now, and we've just visited the shrine to Jan Pallac in Wenceslas Square. Patriotism isn't about waving flags, clinging to a lost empire and the 1966 World Cup.

03/07/2022

The last leg, along the shore of Lake Lipno 😎😊

03/07/2022

We've finally arrived at Horni Plana, marking the end of the cycle ride. It is yet another beautiful spot, in what is a very beautiful country. For anyone who hasn't yet visited Czech, I hope this little blog will have convinced you to put it at the top of your list of 'places to see'!
At the moment I'm sitting in the shade of the Penzion Tomy garden enjoying the view of mountains and sipping a cold beer. Di is dozing in our room which overlooks the lake. Tomorrow's breakfast and evening meal tonight are included (€56) so from now on, all we have to do is relax, and look forward to a scenic train journey back to Prague tomorrow.
Thank you Czech - you are wonderful 😍😍😍

02/07/2022

Here we are happily having our evening meal, whilst behind us in the castle, who knows what fiendish experiments are being carried out on the sewn-up body-parts of hapless travellers ... 🤔🙄😕

02/07/2022

We had a shorter ride today, only 35k, so we had a leisurely start from Budejovice. The route to Cesky Krumlov climbs gently, but there is definitely more of an 'alpine' feel to the countryside. Nevertheless, I resisted the urge to burst into "The hills are alive..."
Around lunchtime we reached Cesky Krumlov, and it was at its beautiful best in the sunshine. We've had a good wander round and our Penzion for the night is lovely, right in old town - and unbelievably it's just £30

02/07/2022

Birthday Wishes to Lisa from Cesky Krumlov - old Capital of Bohemia.
Hope you have a fabulous day, Love from us both ❤️😘🍾🌷 XX

01/07/2022

On the way from Jindrichuv to Cesky Budejovice

01/07/2022

Today's forecast was for hot and humid, then massive thunderstorms from 11am onwards - so we got up at 5.30, breakfasted and were on the road by 6.30 It was cool and beautiful rolling along through the countryside at that time of day and lots of animals and birds. On what has been the nicest ride of the tour so far we reached Cesky Budejovice by midday - STILL DRY!!
We've checked into our very spacious and swish apartment in the old town, (£40 per night!) changed, mooched around the beautiful Square (STILL DRY) and dined on some fabulous food in the little restaurant run by the pension we are staying in. We're now lay in bed waiting for the brewing storm to lull us to sleep at the end of a pretty-much perfect* day in Czech 😊
(*except that I lost our credit card 😩, and we're now cash-only customers for the duration!!)

30/06/2022

30/06/2022

On the way.

30/06/2022

A little bit of Jindrichuv Hradec.

30/06/2022

Czech food can cause some challenges. This was lunch from a sort of workman's cafe. It was like a macaroni cheese and was about 2 inches thick. I couldn't eat it all. When we arrived in Prague, late at night, I bought what I thought was yoghurt to go with the muesli... Rice pudding. It was rice pudding. Goes nice with muesli 🤣.

30/06/2022

On the way to Jindrichuv Hradec.
It's about 55k from Tabor, but in the heat and humidity, coupled with a few sizeable hills, we were glad we set off early and arrived before the crippling afternoon temperatures.

30/06/2022

Well, we arrived safe and sound at Jindrichuv - and before the crippling afternoon temperatures 😎. We found a nice little bar with shady umbrellas and happily whiled away the time until the Penzion we were booked in was open for check in at 2.00pm At 3.20,sitting outside (in the crippling temperatures!!!) we weren't best pleased when 'mein host' eventually rolled up to let us in😠.
All sorted and showered now though, and looking forward to another adventure, ordering from a Czech menu!!!

29/06/2022

We almost got caught in a huge deluge today but found a sheltered little bench outside a tiny supetmarket for lunch. A few hours later we reached Tabor, it cleared up and we went 'full Bohemian' walking around the old town, sampling the beers and wines for the afternoon (the Bohemian measures however didn't seem that 'full' to be honest!)
A cheap restaurant just out of the old town looked popular with the locals ... and now, all Schnitzelled-up, we've retired for an early night and a good rest before the next hilly instalment!

29/06/2022

We arrived in Sedlcany yesterday, largely avoiding the thunderstorms, and after we'd got spruced up, we met up with Matt who was my Warmshowers host on my first visit. He was his same ebullient self, and took us out to a great little restaurant Way-off the 'tourist track'. He introduced us to some of his friends, and overall we had a great night - good food, good beer, and excellent company

28/06/2022

It's been our first day on the bikes, and I have to say that I am already missing Gladys terribly, and Di is the just the same with Bikey. I just about gave up on ever regaining feeling in my 'gentlemen-parts' after sitting on a HUGE big bouncy saddle for 40km - and Di wasn't happy with hers either. We swapped eventually and it seems we're both a bit comfier for the time being. It's only when you 'get going' on something else that you appreciate just how wonderful our own bikes are.
Anyway, we arrived at Sedlcany after a very long 'up and downy' first day. I don't think we'll have problems sleeping tonight, but before that, we are meeting up with Matt, a previous Warmshowers host who is planning to 'show us the town'. Just hope we make it!!

27/06/2022

"I like it hot ... but not this hot"!

26/06/2022

Searched at the airport, had my penknife confiscated, flight delayed by an hour and a half, left my bag containing passport, car/house keys, bank cards, drivers licence, mobile phone in the taxi, but apart from that, it's going swimmingly. Oh, and it's really f*kin' hot.

26/06/2022

Almost a trouble-free journey to Prague and our hotel ... except ... the flight was delayed for over an hour because there was no ground crew available to help disembark a poor soul in a wheelchair... and then, when we finally arrived at our hotel, Di realized she'd left her bag (cards/money /passport/keys etc) in the taxi from the airport ...
It's all sorted now - but Oh how we laughed at the time !!

18/06/2022

Well, this is a change from our usual 'bike-tour' preparation! For a start, we aren't taking our own bikes - so we don't need bike-bags, bags to put our panniers in, tools/pumps/spare inners/etc. etc. etc. Add to that (or perhaps more correctly - subtract from) we're not taking hold-luggage to avoid checking-in hassle at the airport ... so our entire packing has to fit into a single carry-on bag each.
I said we'd be travelling light🙂😏

17/06/2022

This is the first post of our new page. We hope to keep everyone up to date with our progress over the next couple of weeks, but at the moment we are in the hands of the Easyjet baggage handlers at Manchester Airport!
The plan will be to travel light to Prague where we'll hire a couple of bikes. Over the following week or so, we hope to cycle through the Czech countryside loosely following the Vltava River as it climbs through Bohemia to its source at Lake Lipno on the Austrian border. 🙂